Rating (1 to 10) : 4
Summary: David is an American flying in the RAF, stationed in Jerusalem, who falls in love with a Sephardic Jewish woman whose family forbids her to marry a goy like him.
David (Tom Hanks, Rick Gassko in “Bachelor Party”) is an American flying in the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a combat pilot. His squadron being stationed in Jerusalem for the time being, he and his comrade, Peter, look for a good time and try to hook up with some women. Peter meets Victoria, a local resident, and thru Victoria, David meets Sarah (Christina Marsillach) when Victoria brings Sarah along to a date so that her family won’t get suspicious.
You can’t say it was love at first sight for either of them. Neither seem to have a spark for each other. Yet they fall in love and have dates that they must keep secret from Sarah’s family, who would be aghast that she’s dating an unsettled, non-Jewish soldier like David. Compounding the problem for Sarah is that she has a cousin, Nessin, who is persistent in getting her to marry him, even though she doesn’t love him.
The rest of the movie is the clichéd story, much like “Romeo and Juliet”, about two people who are in love when they are forbidden to do so. The pressure comes from Sarah’s family. But after about 30 minutes, you wonder why David and Sarah are so passionately in love with each other in the first place. There was no magical spark when they first met. They don’t seem to express the infatuation that new couples usually have – but maybe that’s due to the poor acting. You are never convinced by Christina Marsillach’s acting of why she is so madly in love with David that she would risk being ostracized by her family and community. And Tom Hanks is still the comedic actor of “Bachelor Party”-type movies; he hasn’t metamorphosed into the more serious actor post-“Philadelphia” yet, which makes Tom Hanks miscast as David because David comes off as immature and unconfident. As an aside, a sign of the lack of imagination - the screenwriters copied from “Casablanca” for the ending (shaking my head).
Why you should or should not see this movie:
Tom Hanks fans might find this movie interesting because it is one of those pre-Philadelphia movies that showed Tom Hanks before he became a more proclaimed actor. Or if you aren’t a fan, you might want to watch this droll movie if you want to kill 90 minutes. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time.